The American League East is extremely competitive this year. What was normally a three horse-race between the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox, now includes the Blue-Jays, and Jose Bautista has a lot to do with that.
To put it plainly, Jose Bautista has been making a mockery of major league pitching since the beginning of last year. Last year he hit 54 homeruns, this year he already has 19 to lead all major league sluggers. He’s on pace to hit around 65!
Bautista is on the verge of becoming the single greatest homerun hitter since the steroid era. His rise to superstardom out of obscurity is a story in itself, considering before last year, in his previous six seasons in the MLB, Bautista had only registered 74 homeruns. Now he’s the homerun king.
He’s not a young guy, he’ll be 31 this October, but the five year whopping $65 million contract the Blue-Jays handed Bautista after his record setting year last season, is starting to look like a bargain.
At this point, Bautista is a lock for the Mid-Summer Classic and we’ll probably see him showcased in the homerun derby. And if he stays healthy, he’ll be in the running for the AL MVP. Bautista is an all around player. He steals bases, he scores runs, we know he hits bombs, but he also is a great all around fielder, that can play multiple positions, including the infield. For the time being, the Jays have him and his hose for an arm in right field and opposing teams have learned very quickly not to try and run on him.
But the big question on everyone’s head is, just how many homeruns will Bautista hit this year?
He’s hot right now so, sportsbooks , any Bautista props?
